The invention generally concerns an arrangement for feeding and/or taking away magazines intended to receive individual articles, to and/or from an apparatus for treating and/or handling such articles.
In this specification, the arrangement for feeding and/or taking away the magazines to and/or from the apparatus will be referred to broadly as an arrangement for moving the magazines in relation to the apparatus.
Similarly, the expression apparatus for processing articles will be used to broadly denote the apparatus for treating and/or handling such articles.
By way of example, the apparatus for processing such articles, whether involving actually treating the articles or handling same in an operating procedure, can be a machine for printing on, packaging or implementing other operations in relation to CDs and/or other articles. Hereinafter the arrangement according to the invention will be particularly described in relation to a printing machine without however that entailing a limitation in that respect.
One form of arrangement for moving magazines intended to receive individual articles, in relation to an apparatus for processing such articles, can comprise a first transport element for receiving a supply of magazines for feeding articles to be processed, and a second transport element for receiving a supply of magazines for carrying away processed articles. The first and second transport elements can be arranged in mutually juxtaposed relationship, being respectively movable in a horizontal plane.
In this respect reference may be made to EP 0 909 728 A1 describing an apparatus for printing on CDs, which has an arrangement for feeding the articles to be printed upon, to the apparatus, and for carrying away the articles after printing has been applied thereto. Those articles are supplied to the apparatus in the form of a stack constituting a magazine. The magazine essentially comprises a base or tray from which a bar, referred to as a spindle, extends upwardly. The respective articles which are each provided with a central opening can thus be fitted on to the spindle. For the purposes of introducing the articles into the receiving units in the printing machine, they are removed from the stack and thus separated off from each other so as to constitute individual articles. After the printing operation has been completely implemented, they are collected again in a magazine in the form of a stack which is moved out of the apparatus. In general terms the procedure in that case is such that the empty magazines from which the articles to be printed upon had been individually removed are subsequently used again for collecting a stack of articles after printing has been applied thereto.
The arrangement disclosed in EP 0 909 728 A1 admittedly also has a conveyor belt which serves both to feed the apparatus with the magazines filled with the articles to be printed upon, and also to carry away the magazines filled with the printed articles. The arrangement for feeding and taking away the magazines in that fashion is however rather complicated as it performs some additional functions which in many cases may not be required. In addition, it is not very suitable for subsequent fitment to already existing machines which are in production.
An object of the present invention is to provide an arrangement for moving magazines intended to receive individual articles, in relation to an apparatus for processing such articles, which can avoid disadvantages of prior arrangements and which involves simple structural means for feeding and removing the magazines for the respective articles to be printed upon and which have been printed upon.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an arrangement for feeding and/or removing magazines for receiving individual articles, to and from an article-processing apparatus, which is so designed that the number of operating personnel can be reduced while at the same time affording enhanced safety for such operating personnel.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an arrangement for moving magazines for receiving individual articles, to and from an apparatus for processing such articles, which is so designed that the procedure involved in delivering the magazines and removing them is rendered more rational while obviating the need for manual intervention in terms of moving magazines and/or articles in relation to the apparatus.
Yet a further object of the invention is to provide an arrangement for moving magazines for accommodating individual articles, in relation to an apparatus for processing such articles, which affords greater versatility of operation and adaptability to varying operating conditions.
In accordance with the principles of the present invention the foregoing and other objects are attained by an arrangement for moving magazines intended to receive individual articles in relation to an apparatus for processing such articles, which apparatus comprises a first transport element operable to receive a supply of magazines for feeding articles to be processed to the apparatus, and a second transport element operable to receive a supply of magazines for carrying away processed articles. The first and second transport elements are arranged in mutually juxtaposed relationship and are respectively movable in a horizontal plane. The arrangement includes a third transport element adapted to be operatively associated with the first and second transport elements and movable between a first position of being towards the first and second transport elements and at least one second position in which it is away from the first and second transport elements. The third transport element has at least one movable carrier for at least one magazine, which carrier, when the third transport element is in the first position, is movable between a first position operatively associated with the first transport element for receiving a magazine from same or for depositing a magazine on same, and a second position operatively associated with the second transport element for receiving a magazine from same or for depositing a magazine on same while when the third transport element is in its second position the carrier assumes a third position for receiving a magazine for articles to be processed and a fourth position for depositing a magazine for processed articles.
As will be seen in greater detail from a preferred embodiment of the arrangement according to the invention as described hereinafter, the arrangement has the third transport element which is arranged in the direction of transportation movement, in front of the first and second transport elements which are each in the form of turntables movable with a stepwise motion. The turntables serve to feed the magazines to the article-separating station and to carry the magazines away from the collecting station respectively, and thus are operable to perform a certain buffer function. The third transport element bridges over the spacing between the two turntables on the one hand and a conveyor belt for feeding the magazines to the apparatus and for carrying the magazines away therefrom on the other hand. The conveyor belt is generally arranged outside the actual apparatus so that there is no necessity for the operating personnel to manually insert the magazines which are filled with the articles to be processed such as printed upon, into the first transport element, or to manually remove the magazines with the processed articles therein, from the second transport element. As indicated above the first and second transport elements are possibly each in the form of a rotary turntable. Furthermore, the carrier which is mounted pivotably to the third transport element bridges over the spacing between the two turntables so that there is no longer any need for the empty magazine to be transposed manually from the turntable for the articles to be processed, on to the turntable for the processed articles. There is thus no necessity for any operator to implement any handling operations in the region of moving parts of the machinery.
Further objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the description hereinafter of a preferred embodiment thereof.